Humans have sought refuge from the elements since the beginning of history. Caves and trees no doubt provided shelter from weather, but in time hut building, sun bricks and wooden houses became common. Due to advances in modern home building, our structures are relatively safe refuges from the elements, but flooding is still a major issue in many areas. Often some of the most desirable properties are located along waterways and oceans which increase the danger of flooding. The damage sustained to buildings can be extensive even when the water is only a few inches above the doorway. In the past, people have attempted to use sandbags or other solutions to prevent flood waters from damaging their structures. While this can provide some measure of protection, it is laborious to use and often makes cleanup more difficult.
One of the easiest ways for flood water to gain entry into a structure is through the doorway since it is an opening basically at ground level or at least a low point compared to other opening such as windows. Solutions to this problem have been proposed such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,081 to Maskell dated Jan. 21, 1975 which provides for a flood barrier that is bolted or screwed across a doorway to prevent water from entering. Although this helps prevent water damage, it is not easily installed and requires permanent mounting brackets be installed in the protected structure.
Another solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,945 to Koeniger dated Jan. 7, 1992 which provides a removable door mounted barrier that inflates to hold it securely in place and then deflates when not in use. Although this eliminates the need for permanent mounting hardware, one would need to purchase different size devices in order to use with doors of substantially differing sizes.
There remains a need for an easy to install easily adjustable entranceway barrier that overcomes the limitations of the prior art.